The present invention relates to equipment support apparatus, and more particularly to a load bearing pillar.
Over the last few years, television sets, the source devices which provide a signal to the television set, and other appliances have become increasingly more complicated. Some of these television sets and appliances are extremely heavy. Traditionally, a television set was placed on top of a cabinet or television stand. These cabinets or stands are typically made of particle board or plastic and are often unable to support the loads of the modem television sets and other appliances without sagging and sometimes even failing altogether. While a solid wood stand may be available to add strength, the weight and expense of solid wood furniture can be prohibitive. Thus, a pillar for supporting an appliance stand that is light weight, rigid, and strong is needed.
Further, the typical television stand may include a front door that opens to allow insertion of source devices such as digital video disk players (DVD players), laser disc players, and video cassette recorders (VCRs). In order to reach wiring used to interconnect components such as source devices and the television unit, components were often removed from the television stand by opening the doors and pulling the components out of the front of the television stand. Once removed, connectors such as RCA connectors are connected before returning the components to the cabinet. Such removal and installation of components is inconvenient. Removal and insertion of a component also required cables that are longer than necessary. Longer cables are needed to allow for movement of the components in and out of the front of the cabinet. Extra cable length contributes to cost and also results in deterioration of the signal due to parasitic capacitance and resistances inherent in a longer cable. Longer cables are also susceptible to electromagnetic interference. Thus, an improved method for connecting components which provide a signal to a television unit is needed.
A second disadvantage of traditional display stands is that traditional display stands required four support structures. Typically, the four-support structures or four-support pillars were used to support the four corners of an approximately rectangular surface used to support a television set. One disadvantage of using four load bearing structures is that using four support pillars increases the cost and the materials needed to fabricate the cabinet. A second disadvantage of using four support structures is that a four-support structure configuration typically utilizes an approximately rectangular top surface which does not match the almost triangular top shape of a traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) television unit. A television unit typically has a CRT which increases in size as one moves towards the screen area.
Thus, an improved support pillar and appliance stand are needed.
There is disclosed in one embodiment a pillar having a longitudinal axis and first and second ends, the pillar including an outer skin, an extruded support structure disposed within the outer skin, with the support structure including multiple cells arranged along the longitudinal axis for support of longitudinal loads, and a tension bar disposed at least partially within the extruded support structure. In this embodiment the outer skin and extruded support may include structural plastic, and the extruded support structure may be separately insertable into the outer skin. However, in an alternative embodiment the outer skin and extruded support structure are co-extruded as a single monolithic piece.
In one embodiment, the extruded support structure further includes a cavity for housing the tension bar. According to this embodiment there may also be at least one protrusion extending from each of the first and second ends of the pillar. The at least one protrusion extending from the first end of the pillar may be adapted to engage a recess in an appliance stand base and the at least one protrusion extending from the second end of the pillar may be adapted to engage a recess in an appliance stand top member. Further, there may be at least one threaded recess disposed in each of the first and second ends of the pillar. A first fastener may extend through the appliance stand base and into the threaded recess in the first end of the pillar to attach the first end of the pillar to the appliance stand base, and a second fastener may extend through the appliance stand top member and into the threaded recess in the second end of the pillar to attach the second end of the pillar to the appliance stand top member.
In one embodiment the outer skin comprises three generally flat sides and a one generally curved side.
In one embodiment the tension bar engages at least one rotating cam, wherein rotation of the cam imparts tension to the tension bar. The tension bar may impart tension to the extruded support structure.
There is also disclosed an appliance stand including a base, a top member spaced from the base and connected thereto by at least one pillar having a longitudinal axis, the at least one pillar including: an outer skin, an extruded support structure disposed within the outer skin, the support structure including multiple cells arranged along the longitudinal axis for support of longitudinal loads, and a tension bar disposed at least partially within the extruded support structure.
There is disclosed a method of providing support to an apparatus including the steps of: providing a pillar outer skin, extruding a multi-cell support structure in a monolithic configuration, inserting the multi-cell support structure into the pillar outer skin, inserting a tension bar into the multi-cell support structure, and imparting a tension force to the tension bar. The step of imparting a tension force to the tension bar may include rotating a cam engaged with the tension bar.
In one embodiment there is disclosed an appliance stand including: a base, a top member spaced from the base, and a first support pillar connected between the base and the top member, the first support pillar defining a channel for housing wires. The channel may be enclosed by a removable access panel. In this embodiment the appliance stand may further include a second support pillar connected between the base and the top member, with the second support pillar defining a plurality of cells arranged in a monolithic structure. The second support may further include a tension bar with first and second ends, and the tension bar may be put in tension by engagement with a rotating cam. The tension bar may also impart tension to the second support pillar. In this embodiment there may be a plurality of protrusions extending from first and second ends of the second support pillar, the plurality of protrusions being adapted to engage a corresponding number of recesses in the base and top members. This embodiment may also include a side cap adapted to lockingly engage the top member and house the engagement between the plurality of protrusions extending from the first end of the second support pillar and the recesses in the top member. This embodiment may include a third support pillar connected between the base and the top member, the third support pillar defining a plurality of cells arranged in a monolithic structure.
In one embodiment the base is arranged in a generally V-shaped or boomerang-shaped configuration. In such an embodiment, the first support pillar may be attached at an apex of the base, a second support pillar may be attached at a first end of the base, and a third support pillar attached at a second end of the base.
In some embodiments of the disclosed appliance stand, there may be a shelf attached between the base and the top member. The shelf may be adjustable between at least two positions. The shelf may be a glass shelf and may be supported between the top member and the base by a bracket mounted to the first support pillar and by a shelf support assembly. The shelf support assembly may include a glass support member and at least one support member rod.
In one embodiment of the disclosed appliance stand and pillars, the first support pillar comprises at least one hole extending laterally therethrough. A television may be disposed on the top member in this embodiment. At least one wire may extending from the television, into the channel, and through the at least one hole extending through the first support pillar, and the top member may thus include a wire access hole leading to the channel.
There is disclosed a television support, the television support including a television shelf, a plurality of legs attached to and supporting the television shelf, at least one of the plurality of legs comprising a multi-cell extruded pillar, and a channel extending along at least a portion of at least one of the plurality of legs, the channel defining a wire-path. The channel may be enclosed by a removable panel. The plurality of legs are attached to a base. The television support may include a glass shelf arranged below the television shelf for supporting an audio-visual component. There may be a television supported on the television shelf, and a wire extending from the television, into the channel, through a least one of the plurality of legs, and to the audio visual component. The television may be attached to the television support via a television clip.
There is also disclosed a method of making an appliance support including the steps of: extruding a plurality of multi-cell pillars, attaching the plurality of multi-cell pillars between a base and a shelf, and attaching an additional pillar between the base and the shelf, the additional pillar defining a channel for housing a wire. The method may further include the step of inserting a tension bar into each of the plurality of multi-cell pillars and applying tension to the tension bar. The method may also include attaching an adjustable component shelf to the shelf, the adjustable component shelf being arranged between the shelf and the base.
There is disclosed an apparatus including: a base, a shelf, at least three supports connecting the base to the shelf, where a first of the at least three supports includes a channel therein, and second and third of the at least three supports are arranged coplanar with one another and approximately equidistant from the first channel to define an acute angle with the first support, where the second and third supports include multi-cell monolithic structures with the cells arranged longitudinally within each of the second and third supports.